Guardian Angel
by SSBFreak
Summary: Vanilla gets mad at Vector when he brings Cream home, bruised and unconscious. But is the mother rabbit seeing the whole picture? Light Vector x Vanilla, because no one ever writes about it.


Of all things Vanilla was expecting to see when she opened the front door, a green crocodile carrying her bruised, bandaged and unconscious daughter wasn't one of them.

"V-Vector?! What the blazes happened to Cream?!" Vanilla demanded as stepped inside.

Cream had wanted to go to the park that day, but she didn't really have anyone to go with her to keep an eye on her. Vanilla had a few errands to run and wasn't able to accompany her daughter, but then Vector showed up and said he would look after Cream. Most would probably assume Vector wanted to do it mainly to get on Vanilla's good side. Vanilla didn't have any objections, so she let Vector take Cream to the park. However, they had been gone for a number of hours and Vector had returned in the evening with Cream in an unconscious state. Needless to say, Vanilla wasn't very calm about the situation.

"It's…It's nothing, Vanilla." Vector replied as he started to carry Cream towards her room. "Cream just…Had a bad spill. I had to take her back to the agency to get her bandaged up because it was close by."

"I know you're lying, Vector!" Vanilla said as she followed Vector into her daughter's room. "I'm not gullible, you know!"

Vector quickly shushed her as he placed Cream into her bed. "She's had a rough day." He explained he silently walked out of her room. "She needs some rest."

Vanilla narrowed her eyes and grabbed Vector's arm, dragging him out into the living room. Vector winced in pain and tried to get Vanilla to let go, but she held firm. When Vanilla got to the living room, she let go of Vector and turned to face him, suddenly aware that his right shoulder was bandaged with blood-coated wrappings and she had just pulled him through her house by that arm. Vanilla felt a little bad about unwittingly injuring Vector, but her anger was too great to be overpowered at the moment.

"Cream looked so banged up! You don't get that hurt from just falling down!" Vanilla snapped. "I demand to know what happened to my daughter, Vector! I was trusting you to keep an eye on her, you know!"

Vector hesitated. "Uh…I don't think you want to know, Vanilla." He said.

Vanilla paused in thought. "You're injured as well…What could have caused BOTH of you to get hurt?" Her eyes snapped open, then narrowed at the crocodile. "You brought her on one of your missions, didn't you?!"

Vector stepped back in shock. "What?! N-No, I didn't!" He insisted. "We were at the park!"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Vector!" Vanilla seethed. "You were probably watching Cream play when a client offered you a job! You didn't want to pass it up, so you brought Cream along with you! And somewhere in that mission, you both got hurt!"

"Vanilla, I swear that didn't happen!" Vector pleaded.

"Vector, I trusted you to look after Cream today! What if she died out there?! You know she's all I have left!"

"You know I'd never do anything to put her in danger, Vanilla!" Vector insisted, looking desperate.

"Then why'd you do it?" Vanilla asked coldly.

Vector seemed scared of Vanilla by now. He had honestly never seen Vanilla mad before. Sure, she was always worried for Cream's safety, but she never lost her temper, at least not like this. Vector didn't want to tell her the truth, but it didn't seem like he had a choice now. "Vanilla…" He started to say.

"Get out." Vanilla interrupted.

"W-What?"

"Get out." Vanilla said, pointing towards the door. Vector could see tears in her eyes, as if she herself didn't want to do this. "I don't want to see you back here until you can clean up your act."

Vector looked back and forth between Vanilla and the still-open front door several times. He finally looked at Vanilla and gave a sad sigh. His head hung low, Vector slowly left Vanilla's house and made his way down the walkway towards the sidewalk. Vanilla watched Vector leave and didn't shut the door until she saw him leave her field of vision.

Vanilla closed the door behind her and gave a sigh. She really didn't want to do that, but Vector had just put her daughter in harm's way, probably because he didn't want to pass up a good-paying job. She just couldn't believe that Vector would do that. He was always so level-headed, especially around her and Cream. It just didn't seem like him to make such a stupid decision.

Wiping her eyes a little bit, Vanilla walked into Cream's room and sat down beside her bed. He looked at Cream's bruised form and gently stroked one of Cream's ears.

"Oh, my poor baby." Vanilla sighed. "How did this happen to you?"

Cream's eyes suddenly fluttered open. "M-Mom?" She asked. "W-Where…Where am I?" She asked.

"You're home, sweetie." Vanilla said. "Vector brought you here."

The crocodile's name made Cream's eyes widen. "Mr. Vector! Is…Is he alright?!" She asked.

Vanilla shushed Cream. "Cream, he…He's fine." She said, not wanting to tell her about the one-sided argument she had with Vector. "He just went back to the agency."

"He…Wasn't hurt at all, was he?" Cream asked.

Vanilla paused. Cream seemed awfully worried about Vector. "Cream, what happened today?" She asked.

Cream paused, as if trying to remember. "We…We were at the park." She said.

"Where did you go after that, dear?" Vanilla asked.

"Huh? We didn't go anywhere else."

Now Vanilla was interested. Vector hadn't taken her anywhere else?

"I…I was playing on the monkey bars by myself because all of the other kids wanted to go on the slide. Mr. Vector was…Sitting on a bench nearby." Cream replied. "I…I was having fun, but then I heard Mr. Vector scream 'It's the Raven'."

Vanilla froze. She had heard stories about the Raven. He was a mysterious serial killer that targeted children. Vanilla was almost too scared to continue asking. "And…Then what happened?" She asked.

"When…When Mr. Vector alerted everyone, the parents got to their kids. But then I turned and saw a strange…Strange man in a coat running at me. Before I knew it, I…I was being carried into the woods just outside the park."

Vanilla gasped and covered her mouth. She suddenly realized that her daughter had come closer to death than she even realized. "Oh, my poor baby." She said, fresh tears appearing in her eyes.

Cream didn't even wait for Vanilla to ask to continue. She just kept going. "When…When we got to the woods, I was thrown against a tree. I tried to run, but…But I was just too scared to move…" She said, starting to cry herself. "But…Just then, Mr. Vector appeared and got the strange man away from me."

Vanilla's eyes widened. "He…He did?" She asked.

Cream nodded. "He fought the strange man for a little bit, but Mr. Vector was pushed away for a minute. Instead of charging at Mr. Vector, he rushed at me." She explained.

Vanilla held her breath.

"The next thing I knew, Mr. Vector was in between him and me, giving me a big hug. The strange man seemed to be hitting Mr. Vector's shoulder with something, but I wasn't sure what." She explained. "Mr. Vector…He looked like he was in pain, but he didn't let go of me."

Vanilla froze in horror. The shoulder? Wasn't that where Vector's wound was?

"Mr. Vector kicked the man away and continued to fight him. The strange thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a handle or something stuck on his shoulder." Cream said, wiping her eyes.

That confirmed it. It had to have been a knife sticking out of Vector's shoulder. It HAD to have been. Vanilla almost didn't want her daughter to continue, but Cream did anyway.

"Mr. Vector…He managed to chase the man away, and then he picked me up, saying that I needed to get some bandages." Cream finished. "I…I dozed off while I was at the agency." She paused. "Mom, why do you look so sad?"

"Honey…You have no idea how glad I am to see that nothing happened to you." Vanilla sobbed, holding onto her daughter. "You…You don't know how much danger you were in. I love you so much."

Cream wiped her eyes again and returned the hug. "I love you too, mom." She said before giving a tired yawn. "Is…Is it okay if I go to sleep, mom? I still feel real tired."

Vanilla nodded. "You…You've had a rough day, Cream. Get some rest." She said.

Cream nodded and went back to sleep almost instantly. Vanilla slowly crept out of Cream's room, shut the door behind her, and then raced out the front door as fast as she could, making sure she locked it behind her.

Vanilla raced down the sidewalk where Vector had gone. He could only be going back to the agency now. After such a harrowing experience, it was the only place he'd usually go because he'd want to find out whatever he could about the person responsible. Vanilla realized exactly how much she hurt Vector when he had actually protected Cream from a killer and not senselessly dragged her on a mission.

Vanilla suddenly saw Vector walking down the sidewalk, his head still low. Vanilla's running had allowed her to catch up to him extremely easily.

"_**VECTOR!!"**_ Vanilla shouted.

Vector froze, then turned around hopefully. Vanilla quickly threw herself at Vector, latching onto him in a death hug.

"V-Vanilla?!" Vector asked.

"Vector, Cream…She told me everything." Vanilla sobbed. "I'm…I'm so sorry I got so mad at you."

"Vanilla, it's fine." Vector assured, forming a weak smile and returning the hug. "I know you love her and I knew you'd be upset when you saw Cream like that."

"V-Vector, hat doesn't excuse my attitude! I should have let you talk!" Vanilla insisted. "You…You got stabbed several times protecting Cream…"

"I…I told you I'd never let anything happen to her." Vector assured.

"And you didn't deserve the treatment I gave you." Vanilla said. "You must hate me now…"

"What?! No! Vanilla, I could never hate you!" Vector assured again.

Vanilla pulled away from Vector (yet still held onto his hands), showing him a tear-stained, smiling face. "Just…Just remember that you're always welcome at our house." She said. "I hate myself for throwing you out like that, especially after hearing what you did for Cream."

"Your words mean more to me than anything, Vanilla." Vector smiled. "I'm just glad I'm still welcome."

Vanilla paused. "So…What happens now?" She asked.

"That creep left his knife in my shoulder when he ran away like a chicken." Vector explained. "It was loaded with his fingerprints, so I gave it to Espio to examine."

Vanilla looked up hopefully. "You…You can catch him?" She asked.

"I know we can. Don't worry, we'll find him soon."

"Please get him, Vector. If not for me, please do it for Cream."

"You can bet on it, Vanilla."

Vanilla smiled, gave Vector a kiss on his cheek and let go of his hands, bidding him goodnight and goodbye. Vector waved and watched as Vanilla walked down the sidewalk until she was out of sight. Sighing happily now that he had regained Vanilla's favour, Vector turned around and rolled up imaginary sleeves before bravely marching back towards the agency.

He had a slimeball to catch…

END


End file.
